The Begining of an End
by Neville-is-a-Beast
Summary: This is Noelle's last year of Hogwarts but Hogwarts has recently took a turn for the worse. With the golden trio gone hunting for horuxes and Professor Snape as the new Headmaster, Noelle's life couldn't get any worse. Or so she thought.
1. Chapter 1

I stood stiffly outside of King's Cross. This year would be my last and final year at Hogwarts, but others would be excited by this fact I was scared stiff. I did not want to go back; my God Parents thought it would be slightly safer there for me. But in all reality it was going to be a pure nightmare. With You-Know-Who back in full power, Hogwarts was bound to be infested with death eaters as it was the best place to brain wash the youth of the wizarding world. "Noelle is that you?" I turned to see none other then Neville Longbottom climbing out of his Grandmother's car with his trunk. "Hello Neville" He waved his grandmother off before joining me. "Have a good holiday?" I asked. "Explain what you mean by good. I spent the holiday in hiding." I took a quick glance at him and saw that he was frowning; he obviously was in deep thought about something. "Sounds about right, I spent the summer at headquarters. Lupin thought it would be safest for me in case Greyback came around." Lupin was my God father, he took me in when my mom died giving birth to me and when Bellatrix Lestrange murdered my father. Neville put his hand on my shoulder reassuringly, wh8ile staring up at King's Cross. "It'll be ok Noelle." "How do you know? With Dumbledore gone and You-Know-Who back in power who knows what changed at Hogwarts." His hand moved down from my shoulder finding my hand and squeezed it gently. "Because we're together and I won't let anything happen to you." I looked up at him, his eyes burning into mine. I nodded up at him and still holding his hand I picked up my trunk and together, Neville and I headed into the train station.


	2. Chapter 2

CHP.2 the New Beginning

We didn't spend too much time on the platform, just long enough to stow our belongings before boarding the train. Neville led me to an empty compartment where we could sit and talk. "What do you think Hogwarts will be like?" I asked. "I'd reckon Professor McGonagall would be the Headmistress but I doubt it. I bet the school will be ran by death eaters." I stared at Neville in disbelief but knew he was most likely right. A school ran by death eaters can't be good.

As the train pulled out of the station, I watched as al the parents standing on the platform was nervously waving goodbye to their children. I could tell most were reluctant to let their kids go back this year, but they had to unless they wanted a death eater to come knocking on their door. "Don't worry we'll be ok." I smiled at Neville but I guess I wasn't to convincing, because he came over to me putting his arm around me. I sat their and realized how grown up Neville had become since our first year when he was that scared quiet little boy. I leaned into him resting my head onto his shoulder. "We can come back if we're interrupting." Me and Neville quickly turned around to see Seamus, Dean, Ginny and Luna smirking in the doorway. I rolled my eyes at Dean. They all came trudging in closing the compartment door behind them. Luna sat down next to Neville and started talking about the quibbler. I felt sorry for both of then. They had the biggest crushes on each other but when they tried exploring their feelings they found out that it was more like a brother sister relationship. It was a pity, they made a cute couple. "Well if nothing did happen, then mind if I step in Noelle?" I rolled my eyes at Seamus and giggled. He has been trying to get into my pants since third year, but at the time I was dating Oliver Wood. I would still be too but he decided to break it with me because of the long distance. He signed with the Puddlemere United and told me that once things settled down he would come back for me. "Seamus you of all people should know that Oliver Wood is the only man in my life." "Oh please, he's too preoccupied with Quidditch. Maybe I can persuade him to let me look after you." "You wish." "Yes I do" Everyone laughed at our little battle. "You two argue like a married couple and you aren't even dating, blimey." replied Dean. I laughed, and hoped that with my friends at my side this year will be bearable.


	3. Chapter 3

CHP.3 The unexpected visit

We talked for the majority of the ride either about Quidditch or jokes. When we weren't talking we were stuffing our faces with sweets. Not once did we bring up out summer holidays or this coming school year. I don't think anyone wanted to face the fast that You-Now-Who has taken over the Ministry and Hogwarts. All of a sudden the train came to a quick stop, waking the sleeping Dean and Seamus. "Hey what gives?" "We can't be there yet, it's not even dusk." We heard a lot of other students were being rowdy but then almost instantaneously everything became quiet. I quickly exchanged a worried glance with Ginny who confirmed my worst suspicions. I moved closer to Seamus and Neville, Seamus grabbed my hand protectively which I didn't dare let go of. Our compartment door slid open revealing Yaxley. "No need for your wands." He snapped his fingers which caused our wands to fall to the ground. "Ah found you, you're coming with me girly. And don't any of you follow or I'll be taking you as well." He roughly grabbed Luna yanking her out of Neville's tight grasp. I never seen Luna so scared before, I tried making a go for my wand but Seamus wrapped his arms around me preventing me from moving. It took Dean and Ginny to stop Neville from going after them. As soon as Yaxley apparated with her, the train started moving again. Neville slumped in his seat, his face full of disbelief and sadness. I knew his emotions mirrored mine exactly. "You couldn't have done anything about it." "Yes, we could have. We should have fought." They knew Neville was right. "No that would only result in us getting killed and Luna needs us alive. We'll think of something." Everyone seemed to be quiet after that, but I knew how Luna would be saved. "Harry will save her." They all looked at me if I were crazy. We all haven't heard from him since the end of last term, but one thing we all knew was that he was our only hope.


	4. Chapter 4

CHP.4 A Horrible Awakening

We quickly changed into our robes before we arrived at Hogwarts. We didn't talk for the remaining train ride. When the train pulled up into Hogsmeade station we quickly got off and started walking to the carriages. The scary thing was that Hagrid wasn't greeting the first years as usual. Instead a couple of death eaters were standing in his place. I stopped and watched them until Neville pulled me away. By the looks of Seamus, Dean and Neville they were keeping a close eye on me and Ginny. But we both knew that we could take care of ourselves thanks to Harry's DA meetings. But the guys were still on edge from Luna's kidnapping, we all were. We finally came across an empty carriage and got in before the threstrals began to pull us towards Hogwarts. We didn't talk, probably because of all the tension between us, but then again none of the other students were talking either. When we rounded the corner, we were given our first shocking glimpse of Hogwarts. "Bloody Hell; tell me I'm not the only one seeing this." "Unfortunately, we see it too." Ginny let out a small whimper and I scooted closer to the back of the carriage while the rest of us were shaking out of fear. Hogwarts had this enormous metal gate surrounding it. Plastered across it were several dark marks. But the most fearful thing was the giant dark mark that was glowing brightly in the sky above Hogwarts. As we got closer we could see hundreds of dementors surrounding the school. I had a sinking feeling in my gut, this was no longer my home, this was a prison. "Expecto Patronum" My wolf patronus floated towards me. "Tell Lupin the school is now changed. It's surrounded by dementors and dark marks. Tell him also that Luna Lovegood has been kidnapped off of the Hogwarts Express by Yaxley." The wolf darted off towards the Order with my message. Our carriage had finally pulled in the gates. A death eater told us to get out and head into the castle, which we did immediately not wanting to get on his bad side.


	5. Chapter 5

CHP.5 Rules to die for

We all came upon the Great Hall, which lucky for us hasn't changed. We all went to sit at the Gryffindor table. Familiar faces lined the tables, the Patil twins, the Creevey brothers, Cho Chang, Justin-Finch-Fletchy and of course the Slytherin sex god, Draco Malfoy along with his minions. I would have thought that most students wouldn't come this year, but to my surprise almost everyone was here, except for Ron, Harry and Hermione. Seamus was now holding my hand, which greatly annoyed me because I knew he was doing this for his benefits. The hall remained quiet except for the Slytherin table, who were all joking quite loudly. All of a sudden Professor Snape stood up from his seat at the staff table and walked up to Dumbledore's podium. "Good evening students. As you know there will be many changes made this year. One of those changes will be me being your new headmaster. Along with your new dark arts teacher Professor Amecyus Carrow and your new muggle studies teacher Professor Alecto Carrow.

"The few of the many rules that are most important is as follows: There will be no talk of Harry Potter and there will be no using the dark lord's name both will be punishable by death. I stiffened realizing that You-Know-Who's name was now being used as a proxy. Snape told us that at the end of the sorting ceremony a full list of the rules will be distributed. He signaled for Professor McGonagall to bring in the first years. "I feel sorry for them; they have to start their first year in this mess." Whispered Ginny. That must be a dreadful thing for them. The sorting went rather quickly; we gained ten new Gryffindor's and the rest were divided up amongst the other houses. All of a sudden pieces of parchment appeared in front of all the students. I picked mine up curiously and began reading.

Rules

1. No discussing anything that is related to Harry Potter

2. Do not, under any circumstances, state the dark lord's name

3. All sixth year Slytherin's and above are now prefects

4. There will be no passwords to get into your houses; you'll have to answer riddles

5. No Quidditch

6. All punishments are to be carried out by the Carrows

7. No magic unless instructed by a teacher

8. There will be no more house points

9. All prefects are now qualified to not only hand out punishments but to punish to their wants

I read the entire list in disbelief. Slytherin's and the Carrows are in charge of all punishments? That was totally barbaric. They can not kill us but they can seriously torture us, "This is insane, they'll be using the cruciatus curse on us next." I agreed with Dean but I knew that getting into trouble would be easier said then done.


	6. Chapter 6

After the feast we all headed back up to the common room. On our way there, I couldn't help but notice that there were death eaters posted at every possible place inside the castle. I walked closer to my group, scared that the death eaters would try something. When we finally came to the portrait, we realized that none of us were given the password. "Um guys, what's the password?" "I dunno Ginny, no one was told at the banquet." At that moment the fat lady sprang to life. "What came first the phoenix or the egg?" I rolled my eyes, oh great we had to answer riddles to get into the common room. "We're not Ravenclaw's we don't know the answer." The fat lady frowned and told us that we won't be getting in without the answer. All of us groaned in defeat. Then Neville walked forward. "The answer is a circle has no beginning." We all stared at him in awe as the portrait swung open revealing the common room. "Neville, how did you know that?" "Well I spent a lot of time with Luna over the summer holidays." We all nodded and quickly filed into the common room.

No matter how mad Hogwarts was getting, the Gryffindor common room would always be home to its fellow students. I took a seat on the sofa next to Ginny and Seamus. We were all silent, but it was a good type of silence. "We're going to have to be extremely careful. Now that Snape's in charge who knows what type of punishments would be given." Dean was right, now that you know who is in charge we're probably going to be practicing the three unforgivable curses in defense against the dark arts class. "Yeah, we should all keep a low profile; I mean I heard that students were already taken from Hogwarts because of their blood status." Everyone stared at me in disbelief. What I couldn't understand was why everyone was still shocked, I thought they saw the poor Ravenclaw being dragged out of the hallway. "Well if that's the case, then we must stick together at all costs." We all nodded. Dean had continued to talk about plans for this semester but my gaze had fallen on a very sad looking Neville. "Neville, you know the Order will be looking for her. She's not going to die; she's strong and can take care of herself."

Everyone grew silent, their gazes shifting between me and Neville. "I know Noelle, but I she's like my sister and I let her down. If I would have done something she could've been here with all of us." Neville looked away before standing up to and heading to his dormitory. I tried to chase after him but Dean had pulled me back. All I could do was watch a very depressed Neville climb the steps. "Let him cool off, he had a rough day. In fact we all had a rough day and we should get some sleep. We'll need our energy for tomorrow." We all nodded and went our separate ways. I followed Ginny upstairs to our dormitory but I couldn't ignore the look Seamus was giving me. But the bad part was that I kind of liked the look he was giving me, it made me feel safe. I quickly shrugged the feeling off and went over to my bed. Dean was right we did have a long day


	7. Chapter 7

I wanted to sleep but Ginny's constant chatter with Lavender and a few others kept me awake. I wanted to join in the conversation, but I had too much on my mind. No one else knew about the previous events and I intended to keep it that way. I turned in my bed and attempted to sleep when I felt someone sit by me. "Noelle, you ok? You're usually talking up a storm on the first night." I looked over at a very worried Ginny. I haven't gotten a good look at her and it felt like I've seen her for the first time. She looked much older and more tired. Who could blame her though, her first love was on the run from you know who with her best friend and her brother. "Yeah, I'm just really tired." "Alright, I'll let you sleep. Good night Noelle." "Good night Ginny." She got off of my bed and closed the curtains around me. I shut my eyes and finally fell asleep.

I sat awake on my bed; I'd hate to say this but Ginny's snoring was keeping me up. I heaved a sigh and slowly got out of bed and headed down to the common room. Once down there I found it quite peaceful. I wonder why no one else bothered to sleep down here. I went over to the couch and sat down. I was about to fall asleep when a silver wolf floated into the common room. It stopped gracefully in front of me and stood there. "Noelle, I'm so happy to hear that you've arrived safely at Hogwarts. I'm sad to hear about how Hogwarts is now running but I'm even sorrier to say that the worst is yet to come. The Order has located Luna, she is being held hostage at the Malfoy Manor. We are trying to do everything in our power to get her back, but the manor is so heavily guarded. But rests assure we will not give up. Stick close to your friends and stay out of trouble. If you need to contact me use your patronous." The mist disappeared and I was left alone in the common room, or so I thought.

"Noelle? What are you doing down here?" I looked behind me to see a very confused Seamus. "I couldn't sleep. Between us, Ginny snores like a banshee and it's terrible." Seamus laughed and took a seat next to me. "So it's a little scary, all of this I mean that's happening at Hogwarts." I nodded and looked to the fire. "I knew it was going to be different but I never knew it would have been this out of control. And frankly I'm scared." Seamus looked at me then away. I thought he was going to get up and leave but he actually pulled me to him and wrapped his arms around me. "Well you don't have to be scared anymore. I promise I won't let anything happen to you." I blushed and looked away. Where was the kid who always blew himself up? Now he's a caring guy who actually is sweet and protective. A silence past between us before any of us decided to talk. But he decided he was going to talk first. "Noelle, why do you like Oliver? He's always away and hardly writes. I know he's a good guy and all but doesn't the long distance take a toll on you?" "Well yeah, all of the time. But I and for all I know there could be many other girls, fan girls that is." Seamus sighed and it took everything in me to not sigh along with him. I knew where this was going and frankly I didn't like it. "I'm going to be honest with you. I had a huge crush on you since third year, I know you're with Oliver but I think you should give me a chance." "Seamus, I know you liked me but I am with Oliver." "But he's not here to protect you, god Noelle why can't you see what's in front of you?" "I can."

And in that crazy moment acting purely on impulse I kissed him. If I could describe the kiss I would say it was sweet at first but then Seamus got a little carried away. I would have pulled away sooner but I liked it, Irishmen were great kissers. "I do see what's right in front of me. Seamus, I like you too." He smiled and hugged me tight. "I think you should go to sleep, we have a big day tomorrow." I nodded and soon I found myself drifting to sleep in his arms. For the first time since I arrived at Hogwarts I felt safe.


	8. Author's note

Hey everyone. I just wanted to say I'm sorry it's taking me so long to update this story. I wrote it all down in a notebook and I lost it accidentaly when I was moving back from college. So now I have to try to remember what was in it, and rethink of everything. I promise it won't take too long. There's some interesting twists and turns that lie ahead and I just want to say thanks for sticking with the story.


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